Foreign language listening anxiety in the spanish classroom: a complex dynamic systems theory approach

Foreign language anxiety is a prevalent, often debilitating form of anxiety impacting second language (L2) learners. The three core components of language anxiety are communicative apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986). While language anxiety manifests across all language domains, listening anxiety remains somewhat underrepresented in language anxiety scholarship, despite its strong, negative impact on performance (Teimouri et al., 2019), often more pronounced than that of other language skills. Existing listening anxiety research relies on rigid methodological practices, primarily static, survey-based methods, which lack more robust student insight and overlook the learning context. To address these gaps, this dissertation examines listening anxiety through a nuanced lens that challenges conventional methodological tendencies to offer new insights into L2 learners’ experience with the phenomenon. Guided by Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) principles, the present study sought to fulfill four objectives: (a) examine whether participants rated their listening anxiety similarly across static and dynamic metrics, (b) determine the extent to which participants’ listening anxiety fluctuated over time, (c) integrate student voices to uncover how participants explained their listening anxiety scores and (d) explore how the classroom context accounted for participant listening anxiety. Data collection took place during the Spring 2023 semester in an intermediate Spanish conversation course at a large public university. Over six weeks, five participants evaluated their listening anxiety using the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS) (Kim, 2000) and the Anxometer (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991b). The FLLAS was administered at the beginning and end of data collection while the Anxometer was completed during in-class listening tasks. Following each class session, participants engaged in semi-structured interviews to elaborate on their in-class ratings. Concurrently, weekly class observations were conducted to contextualize findings. Results from the data analyses offer a nuanced perspective of learner listening anxiety which helps broaden scholarly understanding of the construct and suggests potential new pathways for future research. First, a Spearman Correlation showed participants evaluated their listening anxiety comparably across static and dynamic metrics, though interviews revealed discrepancies in how participants interpreted instruments, suggesting further investigation may be required. Secondly, in-class Anxometer data indicated generally low listening anxiety with minimal fluctuation, but occasional spikes in ratings occurred during higher stakes or novel tasks, or when listening preceded other assessments, demonstrating that although long-term listening anxiety was fairly stable, individual tasks and contexts underscored its dynamicity. Furthermore, weekly interviews uncovered varied and complex sources of listening anxiety (task, personal and input factors) and mitigating influences (personal, instructional and input factors). Finally, classroom observations highlighted the importance of context when considering participants’ relatively low listening anxiety, and instances of fluctuation. Notably, observation data highlighted that participant listening anxiety was generally low due to the instructor’s considerable efforts to facilitate student comprehension, as well as a supportive classroom environment marked by an empathetic instructor, sensitive to students’ anxieties, and positive peer dynamics.